The Champs are going Hollywood

[love_that_reefer]

San Francisco Giants to star in reality TV show | Reuters

Cable television channel Showtime has teamed up with World Series champions San Francisco Giants to air a reality series about the behind the scenes life of a professional baseball team, Showtime said on Friday.

Describing the series as "provocative and ground-breaking," Showtime said TV camera crews are being embedded for 10 months with the team, its management and wives and girlfriends of the players.

The untitled series will premiere around the opening of the 2011 Major League Baseball season in March, and regular episodes will be broadcast during the second half of the season.

"Nothing can capture the drama of the real thing," said Showtime entertainment president David Nevins.

"We are both honored and excited to have the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants grant this extraordinary access," he added.

Nevins said he started talks with a small group of baseball clubs toward the end of last season with the aim of doing an in-depth behind the scenes series.

"It became clear the Giants had the right selection of players and personalities and later when they won the World Series, it was a compelling choice," Nevins told journalists.

If the show is a success, Nevins said he hoped to interest other baseball teams in the future. "Ideally it's the beginning of a franchise with a different team every year," he said.

The series is a collaboration between Showtime and MLB Productions. The San Francisco Giants won their first World Series in 56 years in November 2010.

I really don't have a good feeling about this. It's good to see MLB thinking outside the box and the Giants definitely have some characters like Wilson, Lincecum and Huff but I think it will be a distraction. I really can't describe how I good I feel about MLB trying to promote their product. They still suck as far as marketing but this is a good start.

[Foster]

Look at the 24/7 HBO just did for the Pens/Caps. Some players didn't mind it, some hated, etc.

I liked it as a fan, but don't really know how "this" will work out.

[realmofotalk]

Gay.

[catman]

MLB Network did a couple of series about teams. One was The Pen, which was about the Phillies bullpen of 2008, and the other was about the Chicago White Sox clubhouse in 2009. Neither was a huge distraction, IMO. This one, if done properly, won't be either.